Category: Technology (Page 14 of 15)

Electric cars aren’t a done deal.

May 31, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

When General Motors began outlining plans in 2020 to fully switch to electric vehicles, it didn’t account for one critical factor: Many of the battery minerals needed to fulfill its plans were still in the ground.

“I remember seeing a report from our raw-materials team at the time saying, ‘There is plenty of lithium out there. There is plenty of nickel’,” said Sham Kunjur, an industrial engineer now in charge of securing the raw materials for GM’s batteries. “We will buy them from the open market.”

GM executives soon came to discover how off the mark those projections were, and now Mr. Kunjur’s 40-person team is scouring the globe for these minerals.

“Why Magical Thinking isn’t Whimsical” or “No Shit, Sherlock” would also have been serviceable titles for this article.

Use the heat in the house to warm the swimming pool.

April 15, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

This isn’t my invention. One of my students told me that her dad built a system to use the heat from the central air conditioning heat pump to warm the water for their swimming pool.

Being serious about climate change means being serious about nuclear power.

April 10, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

Foreign Policy: Will Washington Stop Nuclear Power

As Biden administration climate czar John Kerry rightly put it: “We don’t get to net zero by 2050 without nuclear power in the mix.”

It is not often that John Kerry says something that is smart and needs to be repeated often.

The Covid lock down made old dogs learn new tricks.

April 1, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

I can go on about all the bad that came from the Covid lock down, but one good result is that people who weren’t previously technically savvy, stepped up their game to learn new skills and start establishing an online presence.

Electric school buses might make sense.

March 19, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

Electric school buses may actually make sense. Electric cars aren’t a good solution for most people because they take a long time to recharge and lose range quickly in cold weather.

Ozempic for weight loss

March 19, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

When my doctor tells me that I need to lose weight, I could tell him that I’ve tried 6 meals per day, 1 meal per day, eat early, eat late, low carb, low fat, joined a gym, bought an exercise bike, and everything else. I don’t tell him that. Instead, I say, “No shit. Unless you want to write a script, let’s move on.”
My doctor is about my age, used to wrestle for St. Ignatius and knows what’s up.

Even the smartest AI in the world can’t get a 5 on the AP Physics test.

March 14, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

The latest AI, GPT-4 scored a 4 on the AP Physics 2 test. Good work. I still can’t figure out what I’d want an AI for.

China’s Shenzhou-15 astronauts conduct secretive second spacewalk

March 4, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

Brave or reckless astronauts to take second EVA wearing spacesuits made in China. I won’t even buy batteries or saw blades from Harbor Freight. There is no way I’d go into a near absolute vacuum at 3 degrees above absolute zero in a Chinese spacesuit, unless I had no other choice. Communist China may not have given them any other choice.

Side Note: I always liked that the Russians are called cosmonauts and are from Star City. Kind of poetic. In Mandarin, what are astronauts called and did they invent a new character to represent “astronaut”? Or is it a sequence of characters, like “man turtle bubble”

Everyone needs a Bluetooth headset.

March 2, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

Books you don’t own.

March 1, 2023 / Richard Nestoff